How Christian Bale Reacted To News That Ben Affleck Had Been Cast As Batman

Nobody ever wants to hear that their ex has found another lover. But we all react to said news differently. When it comes to actors and their former roles, the connection can be equally intimate – and equally tough to get over. Just ask Christian Bale about the time he he found out someone else was stepping into Batman’s cape and cowl. It wasn’t pretty.

Christian Bale, of course, played Bruce Wayne and Batman for three movies with Christopher Nolan. They brought their trilogy to a close with The Dark Knight Rises, even though Bale admitted to Empire Magazine recently (via ComicBookMovie) that he kind of wanted to "do another." Still, it wasn’t meant to be, and Warner Bros. tapped Ben Affleck to step into the iconic role for Zack Snyder’s world-building Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. And how did Bale react when he heard the news? Pretty much as you’d expect.

When I heard there was someone else doing it, there was a moment where I just stopped and stared into nothing for half an hour. … But I'm 40. The fact that I'm jealous of someone else playing Batman. I think I should have gotten over it by now."

Knowing what we know about Christian Bale, this could have turned out far worse. (NSFW, obviously!)

Bale’s ramping up to play Moses in Ridley Scott’s epic Exodus: Gods and Kings, but he can’t let the Caped Crusader go just yet. And it’s hard to fault him. Despite the fact that the actor has gone on to be in some incredible dramas – earning an Oscar for his dizzying work in David O. Russell’s The Fighter -- it’s likely that Bale will always be remembered for his time in the Batsuit, when he traded lines with fellow icons and reinvented how Hollywood views the modern superhero genre.

How will Ben Affleck live up to the legacy Christian Bale created in the role of Batman? We will be having this conversation for years, but it all starts in 2016, when Zack Snyder introduces a new Batman with Dawn of Justice. Do you think Bale will go see it in a theater?